D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she can no longer support a proposed $6.8 billion merger of Pepco and Exelon.

The Washington Post reports Bowser's administration negotiated for the companies to pay the District $78 million for support for the merger from D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and federal regulators. That would have cushioned District residents from rate increases for four years.

But District regulators rejected the plan, saying it wasn't in the public interest and would exacerbate an imbalance in which federal taxpayers and businesses subsidize residential rates.

"Unfortunately, the Public Service Commission... gutted the consumer protections that would be necessary to win my support," Bowser told News4's Mark Segraves.